The fight moves to protect transgender serving in the military

February 8, 2019

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra issued a statement after the United States Supreme Court lifted the nationwide injunction halting President Trump’s ban of transgender Americans serving in the military. The state of California, Equality California, and transgender individuals challenged the ban and successfully secured the court injunction in the case Stockman v. Trump. As a result of today’s decision, transgender individuals who wish to serve in the military will be unprotected from the Trump Administration’s discriminatory policies while this litigation continues. The case was originally filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to defend the rights of transgender individuals seeking to join, or currently serving in, the U.S. military.

“Thousands of brave transgender troops around the world are currently serving our nation with honor,” said Rick Zbur, Executive Director at Equality California. “Their patriotism and sacrifice should be celebrated, not cruelly dismissed by a president who clearly cares more about delivering on campaign promises than he does about our national security.”

In requesting to have this issue heard before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Trump Administration bypassed the traditional appellate process in three cases challenging the transgender military ban, none of which had received rulings before their respective courts of appeals: Stockman v. Trump, Doe v. Trump, and Karnoski v. Trump. Today, the Trump Administration’s request to have these cases heard immediately before the U.S. Supreme Court was denied. However, the lifting of the injunction will allow the Trump Administration’s discriminatory policy to be implemented as litigation moves forward in the court of appeals.

It seemed almost like Gov. Gavin Newsom was channeling President Trump – in reverse – the other day, when his administration unilaterally ordered farmers in this, the nation’s most productive agricultural state, to stop using...